THE
spotlight fell on larger birds at this month’s BTO regional conference held at York
University.
The
first presentation came from former Harrogate
man Phil Warren who has spent the past 18 years researching moorland species.
His
special expertise is with black grouse, and he is now pioneering initiatives by
the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust to expand its range in northern England.
The
bird has been having a bad time of it for at least the past 25 years - probably
much longer.
In
1990, the UK
population was reckoned to number some 25,000 males, but, by the last count in
2005, this had fallen to 5,078.
“That’s
a staggering and depressing decline,” said Phil.
In
Northumberland’s Kielder
Forest,
the birds were once - in the years before the conifer saplings became established
- so common as to be regarded by some as a “pest”.
But
once the canopy formed, the habitat changed and the bird has now almost been lost as a breeder.
On
the plus side - at least in parts of North
Yorkshire - the species has held up.
Continued
Phil: “If you’re driving through the Pennines,
there is a good chance that any black dots you see are more likely to be black
grouse than carrion crows.”
The
species is famous for the springtime lekking displays of the males. Leks can
consist of just a single bird up to 36, but the typical number is six.
In
Scandinavia, leks sometimes
occur on frozen lakes.
In
the UK,
the black grouse retains its status as a “game bird”, despite is fragile
population, but there is voluntarily moratorium on shooting by estate owners.
In
instances, where individual females (grey hens) - which are not dissimilar from
their red grouse counterparts - are shot, a fine is imposed, with the money
channelled into conservation work.
A challenge for Phil and colleagues is that,
though survival rates for young birds are “good”, breeding productivity overall
is low, with an average of just 1.3 chicks per nest.
The
trust is keen to encourage the spread of scrubby woodland, a favoured habitat,
not least because it provides a roosting habitat.
There
is also need to encourage sawflies because the larvae are an essential part of
the chicks’ diet.
Because
of unfavourable habitat or other pressures, there is little prospect of the
species being able to extend its Pennine population to the immediate north,
east or west, so Phil and colleagues have been focusing on potential areas in
parts of the Yorkshire Dales.
“There
are indications that translocation may be a useful tool,”continued Phil.
One
problem is that, though females disperse after breeding, males are sedentary
and return to the same lekking sites of their forebears.
The
first translocation exercises failed because the males involved simply
returned.
The
lesson that has emerged is that project birds - they are caught, after dark, by lamping
- need to be transferred at least 15km
away to discourage any attempts to return.
Sites
north-west of Hawes and in Upper Nidderdale
have been identified as potentially worthwhile as part of range extension
efforts.
In
response to a question about predator control, Phil said that stoats, weasels
and rats were the principle targets.
What
about harriers?
“Birds
of prey are protected,” he replied.
More
information about the black grouse and
efforts to extend its population are featured on the Game & Wildlife
Conservation Trust’s website: www.gwct.org.uk
Delegates at the BTO regional conference held at York University on March 18 |
NEXT: Jude Lane on gannets
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